Experts warn that as the historic drought continues to bash California, climate change will cause more frequent and vicious wildfires in in the state. "California water policy, water management, and infrastructure need to be changed: those systems were built in an old climate and the reality is, we're in a new climate," said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climatologist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

A new UN report released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows that many of the extreme weather events last year were consistent with human-caused climate change. The study also shows that there had been no 'pause' in global warming - disproving recent claims by climate deniers. 2013 is revealed as the sixth-hottest on record, meaning 13 of the 14 warmest years on record have occurred this century.

The authors of a new climate change analysis argue that by cutting down on meat and reducing the number of ruminants globally, the international community could achieve a more rapid reduction in the causes of global warming in the near future.